Ian smirked. "ok missy." he said. "questions one and two.' 'one: who was your first love?" 'and two: what is your favorite food." Ian layed back on the grass. with his hands behind his head.the stars seemed brighter tonight. He had noticed how pretty arden was. but it was a passing thought.

Arden smiled demurely, clasping her hands together in her lap before saying, "My first and only love is my art. I love to draw, and I sketch any time I get the opportunity. I know that's not what you're asking though, so here's the second part of my answer to your question: I thought I was in love with my boyfriend/fiance, Dean. But he cheated on me with my sister, and I realized how blind I had been." She paused for a moment, fighting back a brief bout of sadness, and then continued. "Second question. My favorite food is probably rice, just because it's simple, but when combined with other foods, it's absolutely amazing."


She paused for a second, and then said, "You know what? Playing a questions game is kinda silly, now that I think about it. I'd much rather get to know you just by being with you, you know?"

Ian smiled. "ui suppose so.' 'and i'm sorry to hear about dean.' "he's the real loser, becuase he lost you." "it may not be tomarrow, or three years from now, but someday he will regret it." "do you hold it agesnt your sister?" "that she cheated with your boyfriend?" Ian looked at her with a puzzled look.

"Oh my Goddess, are you kidding me?" Arden choked. "I wanted to strangle her. I wanted to strangle both of them. Then again, I should've expected it. My sister's always been a complete..." she hesitated, then continued, "...jerk to me. And my boyfriend was a stupid moron who would drool over anything with a low-cut shirt. Talk about degrading." She scoffed, like she didn't care, but inside, the wounds that she thought had healed were slowly breaking again. She turned away, took a deep breath, and then said, under her breath, "I just want someone to...love me. It sounds corny, but..."

"not at all." ian said with a smile. "we want to find true love." "some more than others." "some will have to wait for what seems like a lifetime, others seem to find it where ever they go." "you'll find him, don't worry." ian closed his eyes and smiled. "anyway, it is late." "would you like me to take you home so you don't freeze to death?" he asked kindly. "it would be my pleasure, princess."

Arden laughed softly. "I'm about the furthest thing from a princess," she said, her eyes smiling sadly at Ian. Standing up, she sighed, and nodded her head. "Yeah. I should be getting home." Something in her begged to stay, but she ignored it. "You may walk me home," she giggled, holding out her hand. She shivered as another breeze blew through, scattering her hair and making her shake.

Ian sqeased her hand. her put his jacket over her. "you may keep it for tonight." he said with a smile. "it's rather chilly for summer and i don't think it'll get any better." a soft smiled appeared on his face. he took arden's hand and walked her home. "sweet dreams, princess." he said. he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Arden blushed, and, with just a moment's hesitation, made a rather bold move. "Ian," she called after him, walking down off of the stoop. She paused, and then started, masking her nervousness, "I don't do this a lot--hardly at all, really--but...uh. You wanna go to dinner, or something, sometime? You don't have to say yes if you don't want to," she quickly added, folding her arms over her chest, feeling the warmth of his jacket on her body. "I mean, I just...uh..."

ian smiled. but his smiled was somewher ein between a smirk and smug. "oh course." he said. his voiice was soft like velvet. "i'd be happy to take you to dinner." "i'll pay to." he gave her a playful wink. "see you then, princess." he turned and started to walk down the path. waving ove rhis sholder as he did.

Arden smiled shyly, and then called, "Wait! When?" She pulled her hair back into a ponytail using a hair tie that was wrapped around her wrist, a habit of hers that she always did when she was nervous. Why am I acting like this? It's just a silly boy, one that I just met! But she couldn't help it. Even looking at him made her heart skip a beat. Stupid, stupid little girl, she scolded herself.

"whenever you see me next!" ian said. "see you then, love!' the wind blew another chilld breeze. it blew through ian's hair. and as it did, it blew out of his face, reveling a very poker face. one that looked almost mean and angry. then, he turned the corner and was gone. he finalyl arrived back at the hotel, and eventually fell asleep.